Obama the Sphinx

President Obama officially launched his push for peace in the Middle
East yesterday, sending his new envoy George Mitchell to the region and
declaring his desire for genuine progress -- "not just photo-ops."

Obama's sense of urgency -- and his aversion to photo ops -- contrasts starkly with former President Bush's half-hearted last-minute effort to bring the fractious parties together.

But it's unclear how much Obama's basic view of the region contrasts with that of his predecessor.

He
says Mitchell's first visit will primarily be a listening tour, and he
has not yet declared any obvious shifts in U.S. policy. But I'll bet
that his view of the region will be more complex and considerably less
black-and-white than Bush's. If nothing else, he is likely to expand
the scope of the debate within the White House to include those who
hold critical views of some Israeli actions.

Will he abandon
Bush's absolute support for Israel and instead become an "honest
broker" -- which requires some leaning on all parties? So far, it's all
just a matter of speculation.

There's no doubt, however, that
Obama, in choosing the Arab television network al-Arabiya for the first
sit-down interview of his presidency, made a profound statement about
the importance he places in restoring good relations with the Muslim
world.

Obama's Words

Obama briefly spoke to reporters
before a meeting yesterday with Mitchell, the former senator who helped
resolve the Northern Ireland conflict, and newly minted Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton. "The cause of peace in the Middle East is
important to the United States and our national interests. It's
important to me personally," he said.

"And the charge that
Senator Mitchell has is to engage vigorously and consistently in order
for us to achieve genuine progress. And when I say progress, not just
photo-ops, but progress that is concretely felt by people on the
ground, so that people feel more secure in their lives, so that they
feel that the hopes and dreams and aspirations of their children can be
met; that is going to be our task.

"It is not something that
we're going to be able to do overnight, but I am absolutely confident
that, if the United States is engaged in a consistent way and in an
early fashion, that we can make genuine progress."

Here is the transcript and video of Obama's interview with Hisham Melhem, the Washington bureau chief of al-Arabiya.

Describing
Mitchell's charge, Obama explained that "what I told him is start by
listening, because all too often the United States starts by dictating
-- in the past on some of these issues --and we don't always know all
the factors that are involved. So let's listen. He's going to be
speaking to all the major parties involved. And he will then report
back to me. From there we will formulate a specific response."

Obama
stressed that "Israel is a strong ally of the United States. They will
not stop being a strong ally of the United States. And I will continue
to believe that Israel's security is paramount. But I also believe that
there are Israelis who recognize that it is important to achieve peace.
They will be willing to make sacrifices if the time is appropriate and
if there is serious partnership on the other side."

The main purpose of his interview, however, was outreach.

"Now,
my job is to communicate the fact that the United States has a stake in
the well-being of the Muslim world that the language we use has to be a
language of respect. I have Muslim members of my family. I have lived
in Muslim countries," he said, in an unusually personal reference.

"But
ultimately, people are going to judge me not by my words but by my
actions and my administration's actions. And I think that what you will
see over the next several years is that I'm not going to agree with
everything that some Muslim leader may say, or what's on a television
station in the Arab world -- but I think that what you'll see is
somebody who is listening, who is respectful, and who is trying to
promote the interests not just of the United States, but also ordinary
people who right now are suffering from poverty and a lack of
opportunity. I want to make sure that I'm speaking to them, as well."

Domestically,
meanwhile, he said his job "is to communicate to the American people
that the Muslim world is filled with extraordinary people who simply
want to live their lives and see their children live better lives."

The Coverage

Warren P. Strobel
writes for McClatchy Newspapers: "In office less than a week, Obama has
moved more rapidly than any predecessor to launch a vigorous diplomatic
effort into the Arab-Israeli minefield. . . .

"What's not yet
known is how Obama will deal with the setbacks his efforts will
inevitably encounter. The landscape for diplomacy is bleak, with an
Israeli public deeply skeptical of peace efforts and about to vote in
national elections, and Palestinians split between the moderate
Palestinian Authority and the radical Islamic group Hamas. . . .

"Even
if Obama's foray into peacemaking is no more successful than previous
presidents', the new president has set a different tone with the Arab
world. Bush waited seven years before trying to broker talks, rarely
got involved personally and often sent his special envoys into the
region without explicitly empowering them to speak for him."

Glenn Kessler
wrote in Saturday's Washington Post: "Few words are as closely studied
as a U.S. president's comments on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. . .
.

"Thus far, Obama appears to have hewed closely to the line held
by the Bush administration, among the most pro-Israel presidencies in
U.S. history. But [at the State Department
on Thursday] he appeared to show greater empathy for the plight of the
Palestinians and offered an unusually detailed outline for securing the
recent Gaza cease-fire. . . .

"Nadia Hijab, senior fellow at the
Institute for Palestine Studies in Washington, said the 'choice of
Mitchell sends a clear signal that the United States is going to be
back to being an honest broker and will move away from being Israel's
lawyer.'

"During the campaign, Obama was viewed with suspicion by
some Jewish groups, so he took pains to repeatedly emphasize his strong
support of Israel and its need for security. But, in an unguarded
moment captured on tape during a private gathering in Cleveland a year
ago, Obama challenged Jewish groups to allow for greater debate on
Israeli actions.

"'This is where I get to be honest, and I hope
I'm not out of school here,' Obama said in a transcript published by
JTA, a respected news service on Jewish issues. 'I think there is a
strain within the pro-Israel community that says unless you adopt an
unwavering pro-Likud approach to Israel that you're anti-Israel, and
that can't be the measure of our friendship with Israel. If we cannot
have an honest dialogue about how do we achieve these goals, then we're
not going to make progress.'

"Obama added, 'One of the things
that struck me when I went to Israel was how much more open the debate
was around these issues in Israel than they are sometimes here in the
United States. It's very ironic.'"

Mark Landler
wrote in the New York Times last week that Obama had "signaled no major
shift in American policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian issue."

But Michael Hirsh
wrote for Newsweek that Obama's comments at the State Department
"signaled strongly that his approach to the Mideast would immediately
move from unswerving and unquestioning support of Israel, as seen in
the last eight years, to more of a broker's role. While making the
requisite commitment to Israel's security--and its right to respond to
rocket fire from Gaza--he also said it was unacceptable to permit 'a
future without hope for the Palestinians.' He called for an immediate
opening of the Gaza border, which must have come to a surprise to those
Israelis lulled to sleep by Bush's permanent endorsement of Israel's
every action over the last eight years."

Michael D. Shear and Glenn Kessler
write in The Washington Post about Obama's Al-Arabiya interview: "Obama
reiterated U.S. support for Israel, calling it 'a strong ally of the
United States' and saying he will 'continue to believe that Israel's
security is paramount.'

"But in tone, his comments were a stark
departure from those of former president George W. Bush, who often
described the Middle East conflict in terms that drew criticism from
Palestinians.

"By contrast, Obama went out of his way to say that
if America is 'ready to initiate a new partnership [with the Muslim
world] based on mutual respect and mutual interest, then I think that
we can make significant progress.'"

Time's Scott MacLeod analyzes the text of the interview and concludes: "Here's what we learned in the al-Arabiya interview:

"Obama
is critical of past U.S. Middle East policy, including insensitivity to
the perspectives of the people in the region. . . .

"Obama is not kidding when he says he intends to plunge into peacemaking immediately. . . .

"Obama
seems to see the need to address the legitimate interests of Arabs in
the Middle East conflict, but he's going to judge their position based
on their actions and not merely their words. . . .

"Obama seems
intent on winning over the Arab world, to bolster U.S. credibility in
pushing his Middle East policy, by leveraging his personal popularity
on the Muslim street based largely on his Muslim roots and underdog
image and by effectively campaigning for support among Muslims as he
did for American voters. This could have a significant impact on his
ability to win backing for compromises from the Arab world needed to
achieve peace. The Arab street as well as Arab governments were
skeptical even of Bush's better Middle East initiatives simply because
they didn't trust him."